Anti-Doping Update – April 2017

With the Districts and the Scottish Universities competitions now over for another year, I am pleased to announce that drug testing has been undertaken at three out of the four competitions since the start of the year . We now have a list of all the test results ever carried out online for viewing under the anti-doping tab with the exception of the 2017 results, which are still pending release from British Powerlifting. With our membership numbers continuously growing, Scottish Powerlifting are now dedicated to spending more than ever on drug testing to ensure our wonderful sport is clean and fair. In my first year as anti-doping officer, and with more and more new lifters taking to the platform at every competition, I am keen to promote a drug-free culture by carrying out testing as frequently as possible. Thank you to everyone who has been selected and gracefully undertaken their testing so far – please don’t be upset if you are chosen; it is usually a sign that you have produced some impressive numbers and to protect the reputation of the sport and the records we have gloriously displayed on our website we want to ensure that those records are being claimed by genuine lifters who are working hard to produce the results they deserve without the use of banned substances.

I also would like to draw attention to a couple of other forms that are also now available on the Scottish Powerlifting website. In the anti-doping section along with a link to the WADA Prohibited List and information on obtaining TUEs (Therapeutic Use Exemptions) there is now the opportunity to anonymously raise doping concerns to the committee. These will initially come straight to me and if deemed suitable may be escalated accordingly. Within a separate tab called the contact form there is also an option to ask anti-doping queries that can be answered directly via email. In addition, to assist with any medicinal queries there is a useful website (also available as an app) called www.globaldro.com to investigate the WADA status of any licensed medicines in the UK among other countries listed on their site. This can be used as guidance for medicines only and does not cover supplements. As there is no strict regulation of sports supplements like there are food and medicinal products the ingredients listed on these products cannot be guaranteed to be all that they contain and it is not unheard of for factories producing multiple products to contain traces of contaminants not listed on the packaging, banned or not.

While on the subject I would also like to highlight some of the violations of the WADA code which we implement within Scottish Powerlifting. Catching yourself a ban doesn’t need to simply be from a positive test result. There are 10 Anti-Doping Rule Violations and just one of them is the presence of a prohibited substance or its metabolites/markers in a drug testing sample. Furthermore these rules do not only apply to athletes but also coaches and other athlete support personnel such as doctors or physiotherapists. Possession or trafficking of a prohibited substance or method can is seen as breaking the rules and any lifter who associates with personnel who have been found guilty of violating the code and serving a ban can be subject to disciplinary action as well. For more information on the code visit http://www.ukad.org.uk/.

I hope this was a useful read and I stress again that anyone with any concerns or questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch.